A New Life
by EdwardBiteMePlz
Summary: First of the Fate's Course Series. After a tragic car accident, a young girl is taken to Forks,Washington to spend some time with one her long-lost family members... but... who is it?
1. Chapter 1

I was sitting in the car singing along to a song on the radio, reading my Harry Potter book for the umpteenth time, waiting for my little brother and our mother to finish their shopping. Teenage hormones caused me to wait in the car impatiently instead of joining them in the store and actually act like I was part of the family. It's not like I would absolutely _die_ from not tagging along while my brother bought something or other that he would probably toss to the back of his closet and forget about in a few days.

There were balloons tied to the parking sign in front of my mom's little Honda and every time the wind whipped the air-filled decorations, shadows danced through the car, making me antsy. The past week I had been feeling paranoid, noticing when a shadow would move or stop and listen when the birds would go quite while I enjoyed the sun in my backyard. The only thing I could think of was the fact of Voldemort coming back to power -- in Harry Potter of course -- but it didn't stop the nagging feeling in the back of my mind. The feeling that I was being watched... by something that wasn't to be trusted. I wasn't sleeping well either. I just felt plain weird and I hadn't the slightest idea why.

I sighed and pinched down the corner of my page, staring at the words till they looked like illegible squiggly lines, racing across the page. I huffed and slammed the book shut. This Umbridge lady was making me more annoyed than usual, and I was only at the very beginning of her extremely long list of annoying and downright malicious actions.

There it was. That queasy feeling that made my stomach contract. Usually it was only a quiver of my insides, but this time it felt like an iron fist was trying to dry a wet rag. This time the rag just happened to be my stomach. I let out a gasp of pain and clutched the book tightly, digging my fingernails into the hard cover. I locked my jaw to restrain myself from biting my tongue, and I dipped my head forward and letting my hair that currently shone like new copper, fall around my face. I shook my head and pressed my knuckles hard to my forehead. The iron fist was gripping tighter and tighter, and I knew something was happening. Something I had been antsy about all week. Whoever was watching me must be close, close enough to kill, or do whatever they were going to do to me. I shook my head again and before my long hair fell back to cover my face like a curtain something flashed out of the corner of my eye.

I turned my head quickly and stared out my right window. I felt my mouth form an 'o' and I couldn't even let out a scream before the truck collided with the back right corner of the car, smashing headfirst into the door and window on my side.


	2. Chapter 2

Glass exploded and pain erupted in my legs as if they had been shoved under a steamroller. The heat of the exhaust burned as the four wheeled monster breathed down my neck. I could hear the strangled sound as the engine tried to push through the car blocking the huge truck's path. Why don't you stop? I pleaded, with tears and shattered glass filling and burning my eyes.

My face oozed warm liquid, which I registered as blood as it poured down my head and pooled in my lap. I threw myself against the seat-belt, trying to dive left and get away from the monster that was eating me alive. As I shifted my hips, trying to wiggle free, my legs rotated and I screamed in pain. My legs felt like wood that had just been twisted so hard it had shattered into splinters. Even though I stilled myself the pain continued. I howled and screeched and clawed at my seat-belt till my fingers were bloody but the monster slowly kept pushing the Honda forward.

I looked around through the still intact side window opposite of me and realized my mom had parked in the small lot behind the store, with the tall, windowless brick walls of the back of department stores staring down at me. There was no one to hear me scream. The delivery truck was slowly going to kill me and the sick, malicious person in the truck who had been stalking me would be satisfied.

My screams stopped as I felt the car turn so the front of the truck met my side of the car at a perfect perpendicular 'T'. I was either going to go under the truck, or I could hope to God it would just keep pushing me until -- my thoughts broke off as I looked through the window opposite me again and with horrified realization, I watched the brick wall slowly draw closer. Either way, I was going to be crushed and die. The truck would either run me over, or press me up against the brick wall till the car was crushed. Either way, it would end in my death. Tears poured silently down my cheeks as I closed my eyes and waited for death to come.

And come it did.


	3. Chapter 3

I had passed out, probably out of shock. Now I was starting to come to but all I could feel was wind whipping around me, making my hair dance and whirl around my face. All I heard was the air rushing past my ears. And the cold, like I was being held up to ice, only my body heat couldn't melt it. Cold arms that felt rock hard were running with me slung in them. I felt like I was bigger than the person who carried me and supposed angels were small in Heaven. At, least, that's where I hoped to be going. One of my hands weakly found my neck, and grasped not a cross, but a beautiful, crystal heart that I always wore. Would they let me bring it to whatever after world I was going too? The hard arms where giving me bruises. Every jostle upset my legs but I couldn't tell if I was screaming, the wind whipped past so fast. Despite my discomfort, I was grateful that death had taken me away from the hot exhaust and roaring engine. I shuddered and felt my awareness slipping back into the shadows.

I was being laid on a long wood table, and I heard the most glorious voices of angels arguing quietly in another room. "Jasper, this is of vital importance! You must think of something else, anything else!" The voice said feverishly in a quiet voice.

"But, I mean if he comes in and isn't expecting it ..." I could hear the cringe in the second voice that was at a louder volume you would use in a polite conversation. My head felt like it was spinning and with the prodding of the tweezers, I winced. "She's so confused right now." The male voice I assumed was Jasper whisper. _Like heck I am! What the heck was going on?_

My legs felt heavy and I felt as if my face was being slightly pinched and pulled. A bright light was creating warm dots of red to disrupt the endless black I saw on the back of my eyelids. All I could hear was my steady breathing, making an effort to pull in every breath of air. I rolled my head but gentle, strong hands held it still.

I winced as something long was extracted from the flesh of my cheek and realized whoever was doctoring me, was removing the various shards of glass. It seemed odd that they used tweezers in Heaven, it was just an odd thought. I didn't want to even be conscious when they got to my legs. I was sure my legs were shattered beyond repair, and along with the glass, they would be a mix of burnt flesh and glass clinging to bone. _Maybe Heaven could heal anything_, I hoped desperately thinking all of the nasty accidents that resulted in people's deaths.

I moved my fingers, trying to stir and feel what I could and couldn't move. The pain started to flood through me and my body stiffened but before I could open my mouth to scream, something much more forceful dropped on me like a load of soft pillows. I was almost suffocated by it but then I surrendered and felt eternally grateful when my body numbed. I sighed, and heard someone's smooth voice fairly close to me murmur, "Jasper," with a profound amount of gratitude.

"Carlisle, what was she thinking?" The one I recognized as Jasper murmured mournfully.

"I think there's something she's hiding something from us." He replied as he pulled out a short piece of glass from my chin. I winced and another wave of numbness hit me.

The two men seemed to be completely ignoring the hissing from the other room.

"I'm proud of you son." The father that was working on me said emotionally.

_Proud? Proud of what?_

_"_I would know." The one named Jasper said in a joking tone but he seemed quite happy. _Why shouldn't he be? This is the most glorious day! Why am I sitting here on the table? I should be out, running and skipping and SINGING!_

I started humming a happy tune, trying to get my arms under me enough to sit up and leap off the table. Two pairs of hands were on me, gently forcing me down. "Jasper, I think you need to control your enthusiasm." Carlisle said laughingly and immediately the sense of joy stopped, and numbing replaced it. "What in the--?" I mumbled groggily, my eyes still closed, and the other two chuckled.

I forced my lids open a crack and found two glorious golden orbs staring down into mine. I fought to keep my eyes open as the voice said softly, "I'm sorry this will burn, but it's necessary." I nodded slowly then closed my eyes. "Jasper, you better leave." It cautioned and immediately the numbing feeling vanished. My ankles suddenly started stinging, then, as if I had been doused in gasoline, a fire erupted through my legs. The monster was back, but this time more painful than ever.

I screamed as the flames shot up my veins.


	4. Chapter 4

I tossed and thrashed but hands with strength I had never imagined would come out of a human body, held me down. My legs felt extremely heavy as I tried to get them to move and escape the fire, but they were held down by heavy braces that refused to budge. "It's fine now, Carlisle. That's enough alcohol, I can see she won't obtain any infections." A soft but silvery, high voice carried from what I supposed was the doorway to the room. Apparently she had gotten over her 'hissy fit'. And then I could feel her absence fill the room. _Where had she gone?_

I started yowling as the pain continued. "This is horrible." I heard the voice next to me utter quietly. All that could be heard in the room were my howls that then faded into soft whimpers as the alcohol soaked into my wounds and soon only the soft bubbling and hissing as it got rid of all the bacteria. Then, all was quiet.

I finally found the strength to open my eyes and for awhile I just lay there, panting at the ceiling. The only thing I could feel were the warm, salty tears sliding down my face, and stinging as they entered the gashes where shards of glass had become trapped in my flesh. "Owwww." I moaned, throwing my hand over my face. I felt as though I my hand was a hot iron. I screamed so loud that my voice cracked. A pair of cold hands lifted my hand off my face, setting it on the table, while keeping one cold hand pressed against my hot cheek to ease the pain. I realized my eyes were still open and had glassed over and I blinked until the off-white ceiling became detailed to the point I could actually see where the lighting arrangements and air-conditioning vents were located. I rolled my head slightly to the side to thank my savior and would have gasped if I had the strength. Instead, I stopped breathing altogether. He frowned for some reason unknown to me. "Breathe." He reminded me and I obliged, taking a steady breath of air. "I'm Carlisle." He informed me, and I nodded. "Elizabeth." I choked out. 'Lizzie' which what I had gone by for years, hardly seemed a name fit for an angel, if that's what they were, and Carlisle and Jasper were certainly beautiful, old names. And Carlisle certainly looked like an angel.

Carlisle was young, maybe in his mid-twenties, and yet, he seemed extremely wise. His skin was alabaster and he had shiny blonde hair the color of champagne. I immediately recognized the deep ocher eyes I had opened my eyes to earlier. His features were perfect, with full red lips and a straight, perfect nose, I felt very insignificant._ What a beautiful person_, I thought, my eyes wandering back to his. They were filled with emotion, and I immediately forgave him for putting me through the pain. It was that compassion shone in his eyes, and a slight hint of worry.

"Why are you worrying about what I think, Carlisle? Jasper came to tell me that I should come back and I didn't manage to catch any--" My jaw dropped as a beautiful boy with bronze hair that looked like he was in his late teens stopped in the doorway and his eyes narrowed -- right at me. I felt the color drain from my face. "Carlisle, what the hell is this?!"

_Oh crud._

A tiny girl danced in behind him and didn't seem to be at all surprised at the fact there was a thirteen year old girl with broken legs and gashes filled with glass covering every length of her body, to be lying on her dining room table. "Hello Edward!" Her sing-song voice chimed. So this was the girl who had been hissing. These two were just as, if not more beautiful than Carlisle and the girl had the same golden eyes as him. The boy had deep black eyes that stood out on his also sickly-pale skin.

The boy named Edward turned on Carlisle and started yelling at him with such vigor, that my hands started shaking. " WHAT ON EARTH IS SHE DOING HERE? I GO OUT TO HUNT, JASPER COMES AND TELLS ME TO GO HOME, AND HE WAS BLOCKING HIS THOUGHTS SO THERE WAS NO WAY FOR ME TO BE PREPARED TO COME HOME TO A TEENAGE HUMAN GIRL LYING ON OUR DINING ROOM TABLE LOOKING LIKE SHE -- SHE'S ..." The tiny girl with obviously an insane amount of courage stepped forward and offered, "Looks like she's about to die?" He turned on her. "YOU KNEW! THAT'S WHY I'VE HAD TO LISTEN TO THAT HORRIBLE, ANNOYING SONG YOU WERE SINGING?" The girl shrugged.

Edward let out the scariest growl I've ever heard in my life and, stalked out of the room. I sat there shaking so hard that I bit my tongue and it started to throb. The small girl shrugged again, flipped her short black hair, and skipped over to me. "Hi, I'm Alice! Nice to finally meet you!" Her buoyant attitude didn't seem to have a bit of falseness and she smiled cheerily as if what I now thought was the scariest thing I had ever seen, had been nothing more than a snappy complaint. I blinked back at her. "I know you're probably in shock and stuff but don't worry, you'll be fine!" She ignored my wince as I heard something in the other room crash. "Oh, Edward's not as scary as he thinks he is, he's really quite --" Edward stormed back into the room and started pacing and growling under his breath as if none of us were in here. Alice grew quiet and she and Carlisle looked as if they were really concentrating hard on something, but Edward looked like he was concentrating harder. He stopped pacing and quiet filled the room while I fidgeted uneasily. Out of nowhere, Edward snapped at Alice, "For God's sake! Stop singing that song! You know how much I hate that--" Alice cut him off in an equally annoyed voice, "If you don't like the song then stop listening Edward! After a little under a hundred years I would of guessed you learned how to control it!" Edward pulled his lips over his teeth and growled at her and pretty little Alice growled back.

_These people are lunatics! I wonder if I could make a run for it ... Oh wait. My legs are broken! Darn it! Maybe I could roll ... _

Edward suddenly broke off his growl and snorted. "What?" Alice demanded. "Apparently, she was ready to make a run for it until she realized she didn't have properly working legs and even then, she was prepared to try to roll out the door." He snorted again, nodding towards me. My eyes widened and I let out a little "Eeep!" Carlisle and Alice turned to stare at me, Carlisle looked understanding and Alice looked hurt. Edward's face was tense and it would have been a lot easier if he wasn't in the room. He looked like he wanted to rip me to shreds, and it scared the living daylights out of me. Out of the corner of my eye, ( I was looking down at my hands) I saw Edward's face soften. "It's not your fault," He murmured quietly. "I'm absolutely livid at the others, but you couldn't have had anything to do with this." _Talk about Multiple Personality Disorder._ He chuckled quietly. I looked up into his midnight eyes, and even though there was anger lurking, there was a sweet gentleness that absolutely did not match the behavior he had demonstrated moments before. And what was scariest for me, was that I completely trusted all of them. "It's lucky she hasn't seen Emmett yet!" Alice exclaimed brightly. "That might just make her try to make 'a roll for it'." Alice made air quotations as she said her made up nickname, and giggled.

I gazed around wide-eyed at everyone, wondering how on Earth I got here. "I was actually wondering that too." Edward informed me and I gasped. He turned to look expectantly at Alice and she sighed. "I think before we tell her story, we should tell her about us first. She doesn't even know some of the stuff I do ..." Edward nodded then turned to me. He took a deep breath. "We're vampires."

Oh, lovely.


	5. Chapter 5

Well, that explains a lot. They weren't human for sure, but I had positive I was dead and they were angels.

"Where's the cape?" I mumbled, disoriented. They all chuckled.

Alice was in front of me before I saw her move. "We have super speed, grace --usually." She winced and the vampires laughed.

Of course. Inside vampire jokes.

She shrugged and continued. 'We have hard cold skin," She touched my forehead with her hand and I recognized the arms that had carried me here. "Ummm, we're venomous, we thirst for blood --obviously -- we smell good, we have an amazing sense of smell, uhhh..." She was ticking the things off on her fingers. This was an extremely long list.

"Insanely beautiful." I muttered so low that I couldn't even hear myself say it.

"Oh yeah!" Her expression lit up as she added, "And we have very sensitive hearing!" She winked at my shocked face and they all laughed. It wasn't usually like me to blush, I only did so on rare occasions, but my humiliation provoked my face to turn brick red. Edward sighed at me at what looked like was longing, and the other two nodded at him in understanding.

I leaned back slightly, and forgetting my elbows I had propped up on were on the edge of the table, slipped off. Someone caught me before I completely mangled myself and I murmured a thanks dazedly. "Super speed? Check." I muttered and they all laughed.

"Alice, you forgot about our strength." Carlisle scolded her before turning to me. "We have an immense amount of strength that out does any human by far." He looked at Alice. "Want to show her? Go fetch something to brea--" Edward coughed awkwardly, cutting him off. "Umm, there's no need for that Alice, I had the courtesy to..." Alice shot a dark look at him. "Esme just had the plasma imported, Edward! But obviously," She added grudgingly, "She's gonna be a little ... distracted." She said casting an apologetic look at me. _What had he done to the plasma T.V.? Really, is punishing the furnishings necessary? _Edward chuckled softly.

_How many are there? Esme, Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, Ed-- _I wondered nervously. "Eight." Edward answered promptly and I jumped. He grinned apologetically. " I can read minds." He admitted. _Oh, LOVELY. _I thought specifically for him, glaring at him over my shoulder. He hadn't moved from where he'd caught me.

"I can see the future!" Alice piped up happily. "Emmett's gonna love you! He'll be so happy to have a human around again." My stomach dropped and I stared at her in horror. Edward heard my thoughts and rushed to assure me. "It's not like that! My wife Bella, had been a human. She was turned two years ago."

Oh. Breath blew out of me and I shook my head dizzily. "Oh, yeah...are you hungary, thirsty, tired?" He inquired as he moved to my side. _Thirsty and sleepy_...I thought, hoping he would hear me.

I let my body slide back until I was lying on the table again. "Where should she go?" Edward wondered. "Your room has the comfiest bed. After all, you hunted around the world for the perfect bed for Bella --" Alice cut off and I had the feeling Edward had sent a glare her way. Suddenly, I was being cradled in one's arms while another pair of arms steadied my legs. I barely heard us move up the stairs and the way the footsteps muted when they stepped onto the carpet. My awareness was fading and I snapped my eyes open as they lowered me gently onto his gold bed.

The bed posts were wrought iron with roses running up and down their length. The metal flowed smoothly except one empty space where a rose surely should have gone. _Cruddy designing_, I thought, annoyed. Edward chuckled. "Not exactly." I hadn't noticed him leave, and now he stood with a glass of water in his hand. "Whadyoumean?" My words were slurred. "Later." He replied as I drank. I was sloshing water all over myself but I didn't care. Then I noticed there were dark splotches on his bed. "Sorry." I tried to put meaning into my apology and failed miserably. He smiled. "You need sleep. He went to turn his stereo off but I recognized the music that was flowing seamlessly as it repeated itself. "No. I like it." He nodded, and disappeared through the doorway. I listened to August's Rhapsody from the movie August Rush, and hummed along quietly.

I slept soundly, not knowing what time it was, or how long I'd slept. I had a dream about Harry Potter and though the dream was strange, it was relatively harmless so it surprised me when I woke up with my stomach shivering, and my body drenched in sweat. I was scared to death. Why in any way, would magic hot dogs wearing sorting hats that burped the ABCs put me in a dire situation , that could result in my being scared to death? From the light that was shining through the window, I could guess it was late noon. I heard arguing and exclamations on the first floor and was almost positive they were about me. I was scared. _Would they throw me out? _I heard Edward loudly say "NO. We would not bring you here to throw you out." I sighed in relief. _Thank you._

I sat there staring at the ceiling, trying not to listen. I heard a knock on the open door and jerked my head. "Sorry," Edward apologized. He was holding hands with a slender, small girl, who was taller than Alice though. She had warm golden eyes, a heart shaped face, and beautiful shiny brown hair. She was gorgeous with her full red lips standing out against her pale skin. I smiled because I immediately knew who it was. Bella.


	6. Chapter 6

Bella looked shocked when I grinned at her. Edward laughed. " You're not the only one who's foolishly trustworthy around vampires." He said, kissing her cheek. She smiled understandingly at me as I rolled my eyes at Edward. Bella skipped across the room to change the song on the stereo. She touched it especially careful as Edward watched her anxiously. I giggled. I could guess he had had to replace quite a few stereos and he grinned at me.

I heard "Hey baby hey!" Echo through the room and I laughed at the expression on Edward's face. Bella joined in and suddenly Alice was literally dancing into the room, hands held over her head. I had to deal with not getting up and dancing like a lunatic. I would have, if only one of my legs were broken. Edward roared with laughter at that thought. Instead I settled to bobbing my head to the music and singing softly to myself while Bella and Alice screamed the lyrics along with the loud blaring sound system, and I almost forgot they were vampires. The only thing that reminded me what they were is how beautiful and graceful they looked. I knew if I had danced with them I would look moronic, but I considered it just about having fun and who wasn't the better dancer. edward nodded approvingly and I blushed. Blushing was becoming more and more common, and it really annoyed me.

All of the sudden a man with the build of a serious weight lifter burst into the room. He picked up Alice and Bella, one in each hand, and twirled them above his head. They kept singing as though nothing had happened. The man's eyes were closed and he opened his mouth and imitated to perfection the voice of Gwen Stefani. I raised an eyebrow across the room at Edward who was leaning casually against the wall surveying the scene with amusement. His eyes darted to my face with concern. Did he think I was scared? It insulted me that he thought a weight lifter with the voice of Gwen Stefani would frighten me. _Man they really have improved plastic surgery haven't they? _I stared at his face trying to keep a straight face, and obviously he was trying to also. The concentrated look on his face made me crack up. I threw my head back and roared with laughter. I cringed at the hurt it caused and Edward made his way across the room, leaning beside me.

"What hurts?" He asked, his cool breath blowing into my face. I blinked. Uhhhhh... "Whoa! You do smell good!" I accused him, glaring. The song had finished and the other three vampires had been singing but they suddenly stopped and turned to stare at me.

Alice just looked overall happy, Bella was smiling knowingly, and the weight lifter was looking at me amused. He started laughing and I complained "What? He does!" Alice and Bella giggled but the man was doubled over, roaring and shaking with laughter. When he finally stopped, stood up straight and hiccuped. It sounded more like a strangled squeak and now it was my turn to laugh.

"Emmett, you know vampires can't hiccup!" Edward reminded him over my laughter. "They can t--hicuhh--oo!" Emmett said defensively. Edward glared at him and Emmett started hiccuping so fast like he was being strangled. I was laughing so hard I cried, holding my hands over my stomach. When I finally stopped giggling, I sat up again. "Hicuhhhh!" A squeaky hiccup burst forth from me and I started laughing again, except for when the occasional hiccup interrupted. Emmett starting timing his hiccups to come right after mine. When I finally stopped Alice and Bella were holding their stomachs from laughing so hard and Edward was looking at Emmett with an eyebrow raised.

"Welcome to the family little sis!" Emmett was beside my side in a minute and he stuck his hand out. I took it with both of my hands, using all my strength and squeezing hard. He looked at me expectantly as I took both my hands away from his cold skin. I hadn't even made his fingers move."I wanted to see if you were as strong as you looked." I said nonchalantly. "And?"His face took on a worried look and Edward laughed. "No way!" I flipped my hand at him and his face fell. I let my expression match his. "You're way stronger!" I crowed as I heard the others laugh. Emmett held his out again and his face brightened. "Emmett." I shook it. "Nice to meet you Gwen, I'm Elizabeth, Lizzie for short." He laughed and pretended to punch my shoulder, nearly giving the others a heart attack. Edward snickered and I looked at him. "What?" He grinned. "Well technically, since our heart isn't beating, we can't have heart attacks." I stared incredulously at him. "Here." Emmett said, spinning me away from Edward. He grabbed my hand and pressed it to his chest. I should have felt a beat but I didn't. I waited. Waiting a beat to heat the hard cold surface of his chest through his shirt. None came. I pressed my left ear to his chest, which made me stand on my tiptoes, and listened. The room was quiet but then I could hear it.

Bu-bum.

Bu-bum.

Bu-bum.

Bu-Bum.

My face brightened, then fell when I realized it was my own pulse, thudding in my ears. Other than that all I heard was the air passing in and out of his lungs.

_Well at least I still had a heartbeat...but did I really want one?_

I looked up and saw Edward's shocked face. Oops. Forgot about that.


	7. Chapter 7

I was getting used to living with a houseful of vampires that didn't sleep. But when a certain vampire acted like since he didn't have to sleep, that made it okay for me not to sleep either, things got ugly.

I felt the bed move and I opened one eye. Emmett sat there grinning at me. I growled and flipped over slowly in the bed, careful not to hurt my legs, which had healed at an 'incredible pace' and the casts were coming off tomorrow. "That's not a very impressive growl." Emmett taunted. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me mad enough to hit him. I knew it was useless but when I got really mad, I would hit him anyways. His favorite (and everybody else's) part is where he acts like he didn't feel it and I start yelling at him.

Maybe, if he kept waking me up, which he knew I hated, especially at, I glanced at the clock. 1:17 AM flashed back at me. If he did anything else, at 1:17 in the morning... the yelling would start.

In the quiet I heard Edward laugh at my thoughts and then Alice's giggle as she saw the names I would call him. I closed my eyes and immediately, her laughter ceased. I smiled smugly as I imagined her seeing me sleep and not make a scene.

I was wide awake now, so I might as well have some fun with it. With Emmett taunting me in the background, I made some decisions. _Let's see ..._ I thought about burning the clothes in Alice's closet, then changed to buying a new wardrobe at Wal-Mart. After all, they always had low prices. I could practically imagine Alice's brain imploding as I picked out a purple and orange polka dot shirt, pairing that along with overalls with different color plaids patched on... I heard Alice yelp downstairs and Edward's roar of laughter. _Tell her if she doesn't stop Emmett... _And then I smiled as I slowly made my way to the Lingerie section.

I smiled wider as Alice screamed "EMMETT!" I started laughing as Emmett fled the room, leaving me to have a peaceful night's sleep.

The next morning I woke up in a good mood. Alice was happy to see her closet remained full of expensive, designer clothing and Edward was amused by my quick thinking last night. I could definitely harass them by using their 'gifts' against them, because I was smart enough, and I had a temper that could execute perfect revenge plans.Edward was usually on my side. Which was fair cause I wasn't a vampire and such . . .

I entered kitchen that hadn't been used for a while till I had arrived and retrieved a bagel from the food Esme had happily bought for me. I sighed. I couldn't wait to get my casts off so I could go into town. Even a simple run to the grocery store was something I craved immensely. Just to get out, and walk around. I looked at my plastered legs. They were almost as pale as a vampire's skin. I was so happy about getting them off that I hadn't realized how long I had been staring at them until Edward touched my cheek. I jumped, and then looked at him.

"Just thought I should come shake you out of your trance. Seriously, your thoughts were almost like reading Bella's mind..." He was smiling and had one eyebrow raised. "Thanks." I said happily. His eyebrow raised higher and I felt defensive.

_I finally get to get these things off today! How long have you stayed in a house without walking more than a step? _I screamed in my head, my mood darkening. Edward's face crumpled and I heard Jasper's shout somewhere above us.

"Sorry." Edward called up in a normal voice. I stared at him for awhile, then turned away, not sure if I even wanted to know.

"You don't." He muttered.

I had taken Edward' s advice by not asking him, but after he left the kitchen I continued to wonder what he meant by that. Odd.

"Are you ready to get your cast off? Alice's singsong voice said on the other side of my bathroom door. They had moved Edward's bed to an empty room that was now my own. I was wondering when I was going to be responsible and start school again, and talk to the Cullens about what I was doing here, but I didn't want to. Not yet, not ever.

I jerked back to reality. Without putting my brush down, I opened the door to find Alice leaning on the door jam. We both smiled at each other, and then I went back to brushing my hair. Alice reached out an icy hand and grabbed my wrist. I looked at her curiously, and found myself mirroring her expression.

"Did you color your hair?" She accused, touching a strand of my now light champagne colored hair. "No." I answered storing my brush in the drawer and turning to face her. "It's sort of weird though." She gasped. "Weird? How's ever heard of such a thing?" She exclaimed in mock horror. I rolled my eyes and dragged her to my bed, where we both settled cross-legged on the soft gold comforter.

"I noticed this before..." I cleared my throat then decided to put it bluntly. "Before my life ended, and this one began." I spread my arms wide and looked around the room. Alice listened calmly. "It..." I paused. "It depends on my mood." Usually after a relaxing night's sleep, my hair turns back..."

I fingered the light strands that hung in front of my face. "But about a week before the accident, my hair turned a bronzier shade than I had ever seen it before, even when really stressed out." The word's were coming fast now, like water trickling, then gushing down a parched throat. Alice had tensed but she was relaxing her shoulders while I paused.

"After school, my hair would be slightly darker, but on easy days, with no dramatic fights, my hair would be almost the same shade as that morning. When I was in a really bad mood, it could darken suddenly, but people could never bother me much so it wasn't noticeable.

"However," I raised my voice though there was no need. "_Being sleep deprived puts me in a bad mood_ and my hair has turned darker than ever. Since I've been here, my broken legs have never let me completely let go of the stress, so you've never seen my hair like this."

I fiddled with the shorter, almost white strands. I watched her face anxiously as if she was going to yell "You FREAK!" and throw me out of the house.

"PUH-LEASE!" Edward shouted up to me.

"EAVESDROPPER!" I yelled back at him.

"Like you didn't expect me to be listening!" More yelling.

"Hey, EDWARD! I finally realized why your hair is bronze all the time! Because you HAVE NO GOOD MOOD!"

Alice was staring at me with wide eyes. "WHAT?" I growled at her. "Your hair." I looked down in amazement as the ends turned a metallic red before fading back to a steady, annoyed, bronze.

"Say good-bye to my blonde hair, thanks to some horribly annoying vampires." I mumbled before sliding off the bed.

" 'S not my fault you're an extremely, emotional teenager." I whirled to Bella, who was leaning against the wall. I could feel the anger building up, and her jaw dropped. "Whoa! You're right! Your hair is hardwired right to your emotions!" She was staring and I could feel my hair getting redder and redder.

"Danger zone. Back off, Bella." Alice cautioned softly and I wondered what she saw. "Hey you ARE a freak!" Emmett teased rounding the corner as my jaw clenched and my nostrils flared.

I felt a shock jolt down my spine. My hair reached bright red and Emmett disappeared.Bella screamed. I just stood there, mouth open in shock, staring at the corner where Emmett's head had just appeared and disappeared.

"What did I do?" I whimpered and Alice rested her hand on my arm. "Edward." She called softly. "Yes?" He was up here in seconds, looking mildly annoyed at me. Then he did a double take. He took in our shocked faces, my red hair and demanded "What happened?" "I was so mad." I whispered weakly.


	8. Chapter 8

Edward was still for a moment, closing his eyes. At first I thought he was grieving. I had killed Emmett. Rosalie was going to tear me to shreds.

Then Edward opened his eyes with a confused expression. "I can hear his thoughts. He wants to know what happened. He said it in a slightly different way but you get the point." Nobody smiled though.

I was the only one who could bring him back, and I didn't know what I did in the first place. "Can he hear us?" I asked quietly.

"I don't think so." Edward replied, still puzzled. Then he asked it. "What did you do?"

"I dunno." I murmured. I was really mad, and I snapped." I gasped and they all cast alarmed looks at me.

"What is going on?" It was Carlisle, followed by Esme and Rosalie (I gulped seeing her face).

"Liz did something to Emmett and now we can't find him." Alice explained. Carlisle and the two other women laughed.

"No, Carlisle. I think Lizzie discovered her _power_. " And then there was silence as they all stared at me.

"Do it again Lizzie." Edward commanded.

"No."

"Do it."

"NO."

DO IT."

"NO!" My hair glowed red and then Edward disappeared.

I screamed and started sobbing.

"Lizzie, I didn't know it was possible to obtain a power before you're a vampire. This is very interesting." Carlisle mused, seeming to completely forget about his sons.

Suddenly Jasper was in the doorway. "Who ticked Lizzie off?" He asked in a frightened voice.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I thought hard.

Suddenly Edward was sprawled on the floor in front of me. I screamed and jumped backward.

"Thanks." He was abruptly on his feet looking at me in fascination.

"You're expecting me to say 'You're welcome'?" I asked in disbelief. "I could have killed you!"

Edward rolled his eyes but before I could press further he said, "You should probably bring Emmett back."

I nodded and closed my eyes. This time, when Emmett appeared on the floor in front of us, I didn't cry out, but Rosalie started laughing hysterically.

Emmett was on his feet eyeing me wearily. I looked down sadly. This was horrible. Edward rested a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not your fault. Emmett had it coming to him, and at least you can get a good night's sleep." He smiled a crooked smile and I smiled back weakly.

"Where did I send you anyway?"

This question puzzled him. "I'm not quite sure."

I snorted. "Well, sorry bout that."

Emmett laughed. "It'll come in handy though since you're on our side. He was grinning broadly and I was relieved.

Alice gasped and we all looked at her. Her eyes went blank for a few seconds and then she came out of her trance. I watched the whole thing fascinated. Her eyes were wide. "Volturi!" She gasped and the whole room went tense. My hair bronzed slightly and I looked around confused.

"Vol--"

When are they coming?" Edward cut me off quickly.

"Five minutes." Those words sent the stress up so high I could hardly bear it and I shook my head back and forth as my hair turned a dull red.

Every head turned to Carlisle, who turned to Edward. "What for?"

Edward closed his eyes. "To see if Bella's changed. Of course, to also see if she acquired powers. That's all." And then he stiffened.

My hair grew a darker shade of red.

"Aro's with them. Aro, Demetri, Jane, and Felix." Bella shuddered as Edward the last name. I was breathing like I had just run a mile. Edward opened his eyes. I realized everybody was looking at me. It was driving me crazy. And then, everybody panicked.

"Where'd she go?"

"She's gone!"

"Is it the Volturi?"

I watched them panic with me, standing here, not having moved or anything. Even Edward appeared to not be able to hear my mind. What was going on?

I thought hard, and even though I hadn't moved an inch, they all stopped and stared. They appeared to be able to see me again. I laughed nervously. They looked at each other. She wasn't even a vampire, and she had the power to do all this? I knew this is what was running through their minds, because it was bothering me too.

They all looked back at me. "Again." Edward commanded quietly and I obeyed. Nobody gasped this time. Quietly, Edward instructed, "Stay like this, but stay right by me." I nodded but realized he couldn't see me.

"Okay." I murmured but he gave no sign that he heard me. I sighed and touched his shoulder. Immediately, he disappeared. I changed back and I could see him again. "Aro CANNOT find out." Edward said quietly, but for some reason, I felt like it was a lost cause.


	9. Chapter 9

"They're here. Change." Edward whispered to me and I did, trying to be very careful not to focus on making anything disappear.

We all made our way down the stairs and I didn't need to worry about the noise because apparently, my power wasn't just invisibility, it was all of the senses. It was as if I wasn't part of the world right now.

"Friends! Nice too see you Carlisle." Exclaimed one of the four vampires, spreading his arms wide. They were all standing in the living room, watching us descend the stairs. Carlisle smiled slightly in response. The unfamiliar vampire had long, jet-black hair that matched the color of his cloak. "Hoo, Hoo! My dear Bella you look wonderful!"

"Thank you, Aro. Your generosity is great." Bella replied politely.

"So nice to see you !" Aro walked forward and pressed his hands to Bella's, but it wasn't really a handshake.

I tilted my head as I watched this vampire. He looked, almost breakable. A vampire, breakable? How odd. He had dark red eyes, almost the color of my hair right now, and I shivered. His red eyes were slightly clouded my a milky film. It didn't seem to affect his vision, but then again, vampires have such strong senses...

Aro's face was growing frustrated, then it cleared. "Ha, ha! My good Bella, you are still as blank as before! Is that your only power, I wonder?" Aro turned to Edward and held his hand out.

Edward shook his head. "Bella, won't you give a little example for Aro?"

A small female vampire that could have looked beautiful if her face wasn't marred by such a malicious expression hissed.

"Now, now Jane." But before he even finished, Jane's smile turned angelic as she turned to stare at Edward. Edward was immediately on the ground, writhing silently in what I took was great pain. Bella growled and immediately Jane was on the floor this time. Edward sprang up to look at Bella, and I tore my gaze away from the struggling vampire to Bella's face. She was smiling innocently at Jane who was staring up at her in horror.

"What is this?!" Aro cried happily, oblivious to Jane twitching and screaming on the floor. He clasped his hands together eagerly.

"I can borrow other's powers. I can share Edward's mind reading, Alice's seeing, Jasper's mood changing, all of it." I saw Aro's mouth twitch and for the first time, Aro was not smiling.

"So my dear, if I'm not mistaken, you can use my powers?" Aro's face looked hopeful that, I'm guessing Bella could not use Aro's own powers.

'Yes, I can hear all of a person's thoughts, but only by touch."

"Interesting. You of course know that we will always have a spot open for all of you in our family," But Aro only cast glances at Edward, Bella, and Alice. Jasper wrapped his arm around Alice protectively, and Edward and Bella exchanged glances.

"Well friends, it was so nice to see you! of course, Edward, don't think I am unaware you have been negligent to shake my hand." Aro stuck his hand out, with a fake, cheery smile.

Edward's expression was wooden as he approached him, his hand extended. Aro's eyes were wide as he let go of Edward's hand.

"Where is she?" Aro demanded greedily as the Cullens exchanged glances.

"You can search for her," Edward said, nodding to another vampire. "But she is not here Demetri."

"Of course she isn't!" Aro replied indignantly. "I know that her scent, mind, sound, and appearance is gone when she decides it. But perhaps, she needs a little convincing." He cast his eyes around the room and I shivered. I knew nobody heard it, but Esme looked troubled and Carlisle grim.

"Jane, dear. Pick one, and hopefully this little girl will have the heart to come out of hiding."

"Yes, Master!" Jane smiled happily then narrowed her eyes at the Cullens. Her eyes drifted greedily to Bella, but she knew better and chose Alice.

Alice, screamed and fell to the floor writhing like a snake just tossed in the air. She screamed for about twenty seconds, and then there was silence. She lay on the floor panting, and Jane called loud enough for me to hear, "Come out little girl."

Alice's screams echoed through the room and I gritted my teeth. My hair was whirling around my head like angry ocean waves, lit on fire. I burst forth with a snarl, and Jane turned her cherubic face to me.

A wave of pain hit me and my hair shone so red, a metallic glint came off of it. "Stop!" I growled and as her grin widened, I smiled too.

Jane disappeared. Aro stared at the spot she where she had just been grinning. I counted to twenty in my head. "My, my." He whispered. Then his face brightened. "Not even a vampire yet! Tut, Tut! No one can pass up this power, I'm afraid."

The corner of my mouth twitched and my hair lightened a shade. Now that Jane was where ever I sent her, it would be a lot easier. Felix was snarling and I glared at him.

"If you must." Aro watched greedily.

I looked at Edward who shrugged and nodded.

Turning back to Felix, I raised my eyebrows and he too, disappeared.

Aro finally seemed to realize he was much out-numbered without Jane who could obviously stop people in their tracks, and Felix, who had looked like a fighter. "Would, you be so kind, Lizzie, as too return my guard to me?" After a moment, grudgingly, I nodded and Aro looked relieved.

I glared at the floor and let Felix appear on his feet. He eyed me warily, and moved to stand next to Aro, gazing, along with everyone else, at the spot where he had appeared. I knew I would never have the opportunity again, so I made bringing Jane back quite fun.

I stared hard at the floor where Felix's feet had landed and concentrated with all my strength. Jane crashed down so hard that her head cracked the hard wood floor. I would have to apologize to Esme later, but I smiled as little chuckles came from the Cullens' group.

"Oops. I'm sorry!" I apologized, innocently widening my eyes. Jane started to smile at me but I disappeared and Aro said with a hint of panic in his voice, "Now now, Jane. Let's not scare young Lizzie away. I thought you would be intelligent enough to realize she out matches you, even not being a vampire."

Jane hissed angrily and, I returned, on the other side of the Cullens, smiling.

Emmett jumped when I poked him and then laughed.

"Well my dear friends!" Aro exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Seeing as your last change is successful, I must leave it to you to change the girl..."

I felt my stomach drop and I could tell there was more.

"But," he cautioned, his face darkening. "I would appreciate it greatly if you were very cautious, and I advise you not to fail. If necessary, we can bring her back to Italy." Aro finished, looking at Carlisle.

Carlisle nodded. "Please do not worry yourself. It will be fine." Aro nodded, looking wistfully at me, and then turning to the door. "Come, Jane, we must be back to Italy soon." And with that, all four pulled their hoods up, Jane giving me a last dirty look, and darted out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

I sat there for a minute, my head tilted slightly, and I could feel them watching me. It made me nervous but I kept staring blankly into space. It was Bella that broke the silence by running up at vampire speed. "I'm so sorry!" She cried, running up to me, throwing her arms around my neck. I flinched and disappeared. Bella gasped and fell through me. When I came back she was on the other side of me, staring open-mouthed. "Sorry," I said breathlessly, rocking back and forth on my heels. "I'm a little jumpy."

"That was AWESOME!" Emmett roared. "Do me!" Before anybody could stop him, he jumped right at me. I screamed, and he disappeared, still in the air. He reappeared on the other side of the room, and before he could stop, his head crashed into the wall.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized to Esme. I hoped she wasn't mad. I had damaged her wood floor and her beautifully painted walls, in the time span of one day.

"Happens all the time." She said, smiling.

I looked back to Emmett. His head was still stuck inside the wall and he was struggling fruitlessly to get it out. "_That_ happens all the time?"

They all saw the look on my face, and burst out laughing. Emmett disappeared and appeared in front of us, drywall, in his hair.

"I wanted you to do what you did to _Bella_." Emmett whined.

"_You_ weren't trying to comfort me." I glared at him. Rosalie came up and punched him hard on the shoulder.

"Thanks." I muttered. I needed a shower. I went carefully up the stairs, being careful not to trip.

I pulled the plastic bags over my casts, and turned the hot water on. As I waited for it to warm, I made the bar of soap pop in and out of existence dully. The water was the perfect temperature. I stepped out of my clothes, and disappeared.

I wanted to think all by myself. Wait. I pulled out of my hiding. Could I just hide only my mind? I'll ask Edward later.

I stepped into the shower as my normal self and let the hot water run over my skin. I washed my hair, soaped my body, rinsed, and stepped out of the shower. I hated these casts. I pulled clean clothes on that Alice had bought me and made my way to my bedroom.

I sat on the warm bed and let the rare sunlight warm me further.

I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

My sleep was full of dreams of the pain Jane could bestow, Aro's milky, red eyes and the sentence that kept repeating itself.

_"I advise you not to fail. If necessary, we can bring her back to Italy." _

A sharp shake of my shoulder woke me up. Edward's hand fell through me onto the mattress. I rolled away from him and appeared on the other side of the bed. I had no intention to appear with his hand through my shoulder.

"What'swrong?" I yawned sleepily.

"You were screaming. And you can't control your powers while you sleep. You were flashing back and forth and it was driving me crazy."

"Sorry." I murmured sadly.

"It's okay. You're smart worrying. The Volturi -- " He cut off guiltily when he saw my terrified face.

"Anyways, I came to wake you cause Alice is finally going to tell us what she's been hiding..." His eyes narrowed at something on my neck.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Has Alice been giving you jewelry?" He accused.

"No. Why?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing." He turned away. "Let's go."

"Wait, Edward." He turned and looked at me. I tried to only lock my mind, then asked, _Can you hear me?_

He sat there looking expectantly at me. As the seconds ticked by, he became confused, and gasped.

Then he asked something I've only heard him ask one person before. "What are you thinking?"

There was an uproar on the lower floor, and in seconds, all eight vampires were in my room.

"I can still see her!" Alice.

"Has she learned to only disguise one part of her?" Esme.

"I don't see the big deal --" Emmett.

"Oh, shut UP, Emmett!" Rosalie.

"Yes! I'm not the only one!" Bella.

"Calm down!" Jasper.

"You can't hear her Edward?" Carlisle.

My eyes were wide and I stopped hiding my mind.

Edward gazed at me. "Now I can." He said softly.

We were in the living room now.

"Scent." Edward commanded. I concentrated on a vampire's scent and immediately the wonderful aroma came from my hand when I sniffed it. The other vampires murmured in amazement.

"Keep the scent, and now mute your sound." This was harder for me and every time I muted my heartbeat, the sweet scent disappeared. I huffed in frustration.

"We'll keep working on it. If we can trick Aro, which is virtually impossible, we won't have to change you till you're older."

Alice cleared her throat. I remembered this was supposed to be her meeting. I turned on the couch to look at her.

"I'm sure you all want to know why I had been following Lizzie, and why I saved her from the car accident." I winced slightly, and looked down at my healed legs.

Carlisle was a miracle worker. There were a few almost-healed cuts, but other than that they looked fine. They were, however, very pale, almost as pale as a vampire's. I grinned suddenly and Edward chuckled. I closed my mind to him smugly. He crossed his arms and pouted.

Alice rolled her eyes and continued. "Anyways --" Edward interrupted her when he saw me holding the crystal heart that hung on my neck, and running my thumb along the point. "Alice, did you give her that necklace? She said you didn't but I think you told her not to tell me." I dropped the heart and glared at him.

"No Edward I didn't give her the--" She stopped when she saw the necklace, and then her eyes blanked.

"When she returned to the future, she looked up slowly at me. "You tell the story, about how you got your necklace." Everybody cast glances at her questioning her sanity, including me.

"Okay..." I said slowly but I knew the story well.

I unclasped the necklace and held it in my hand, letting everyone look at it. Then I started.

"It's a family heirloom, and has been passed to the eldest daughter when she turns the age of thirteen. My mom gave it to me on my birthday last year, her mother had given it to her on her thirteenth, after she had received it from my great-grandmother, and so on. "

I paused. This was the sad part.

"The sad thing is," I paused again. "None of us were supposed to have the necklace. The pattern was changed around the late teens in the 1900s."

Edward stiffened, but I ignored it.

"It was when the Spanish Influenza struck, and almost everybody in my great-great-grandmother's family died. "

Edward's eyes were pained.

"Except for her sister, who was the eldest and had already lost her husband to it. Since she was the eldest she had most of their mother's jewelry, and this," I held up the necklace and fondly watched it shoot shards of light across the room.

"She caught the flu, and in her will she gave everything to her children except for this." I gestured to the necklace again, lost in my world of story telling.

"Before she died, she personally gave this to her younger sister, my great-great grandmother, and the only one who ended up surviving." I tried to keep my voice from shaking.

"Her older sister told her to keep passing on the Ranken family heirloom, and every time I look at it, I'm proud that my great-great-great aunt was so brave, and selfless. When I'm mad, they say I have her hair."

I paused trying to remember the name. "Elizabeth Masen."


	11. Chapter 11

Alice was the only one who's eyes didn't bulge out of their sockets.

I glanced around at everybody nervously. "What?"

Edward's mouth was wide open and he was staring at me in disbelief.

"What?" I asked again. And again, I got the same response. A big serving of shocked faces and no explanation.

"You're Edward's cousin!" Alice squealed after Edward showed no signs of talking any time soon.

"Uhhhhh...what?" I was ... confused.

Alice stared impatiently at Edward. Still nothing.

"I knew it!" Emmett crowed.

Alice frowned. "No you didn't."

Emmett shrugged. "I knew the bad temper had to come from somewhere."

You'd think Emmett would have learned.

All of the sudden, his left leg was standing on the other side of the room, hopping in little circles.

"Dude! Where'd my leg go?" Emmett screeched, and Rosalie doubled over with laughter.

I tilted my head towards it and smiled knowingly. It was gonna be fun to watch Emmett try to catch his escaping leg. He jumped up and started hopping across the room. It was also good to know that when I wanted to I could remove body parts, like the mouth, which I knew I would have to remove a lot in Emmett's case.

Alice was holding her stomach and Bella had accidentally fallen off of the couch from her hoots. She tried to grab the arm of the couch as she fell but she accidentally ripped it off. I started laughing too hard to concentrate and Emmett caught his leg. edward was just gazing thoughtfully into space. I guess he needed some time to think.

Later that day I was sitting on my bed with a mirror, making my eyebrows disappear, and reappear in different expressions. My power could be pretty amusing. Even Emmett thought so and all day he had been coming up, telling me to remove a part of his body and hide it. Then I would time him on how long it took him to find it. I looked at the timer and grinned. It was on ten minutes and eleven seconds and Emmett still hadn't found his right ear. I had hidden it in the laundry basket and was wondering if I would even replace it if he couldn't find it.

Edward hadn't come up to talk to me, and I knew he wasn't the kind to avoid things. He needed to think it through. He needed to think everything through and I had no idea why. He was lucky it wasn't a necessity for him to breath because I was pretty sure he thought that through too.

I heard a chuckle downstairs and ignored it. Then I heard a loud "WOO HOO! Thanks Esme!" And before I could press the button to stop the timer, Emmett was in my room grinning, and holding something triumphantly in his hand. "Found it!" He yelled as I pressed the STOP button.

" 'Bout time too." I chided him. "Ten minutes and thirty-nine seconds! I could've found it faster!" I scolded him.

"You're the one who hid it." He muttered under his breath.

"I don't have the best hearing, but I'm not DEAF Emmett." I rolled my eyes as his ear appeared on the side of his head just where it had been earlier and he grinned at me.

"Now wha--" And his mouth disappeared. I felt it drop into my hand, and grinned at him. "What was that? Can you speak a little LOUDER?"

The mouth disappeared as I sent it down the hall, into the toilet in Rosalie and Emmett's bathroom. He must've heard it splash because he started gesturing furiously before he stormed out of the room. I chuckled, then looked around for something to do.

I heard a knock on the door and was puzzled. I couldn't imagine Emmett knocking after finding his mouth in the toilet. He would storm back in here and try to demand wordlessly that I put his mouth back on his face.

"Come in!" I called, and Edward opened the door grinning. "Do my powers deceive me or is Emmett fishing his mouth out of a toilet?"

"We're playing Hide-N-Go seek." I laughed as I imagined what Emmett was thinking right now.

"So," I said curiously. "How are we cousin's?"

"My mother's Elizabeth Masen." He replied thoughtfully. "That's why I wanted to know if Alice had given you jewelry. I had 'died' also and so Carlisle pretended he was our lawyer, took all the things in the will and gave it to me, and so I still have the house, jewelry, and everything else. I gave most of the jewelry to Esme, Rosalie, Alice and Bella." At her name his entire face brightened.

" I remembered when I was alive, she had worn that necklace all the time, and never taken it off, so when I saw it wasn't in her collection of jewelry, I was livid that one of the nurses had maybe taken it. But now I know that wasn't the case..." He trailed off and smiled at me. "And so we're cousins." I said.

I rolled my eyes, and he grinned. "You know, you're taking it pretty well, since you tend to over react to everything." I told him and he laughed. "Yeah, Esme moved the plasma to her room until she's sure I'm not gonna break it for the third time." He winced. I was curious about the first time but I held back. "Plus," Edward added. "I'm not _mad _about this. I'm terribly excited." Then he seemed to be pondering whether to say something. I took his icy hand firmly. "Come on, tell me." He shook his head. "Pleasssssssse? We're cousins aren't we?" I tried. Edward shook his head firmly and I sighed. Two can play at that game. I closed my mind stubbornly. Edward rolled his eyes.

Then something occurred to me. "How's Rosalie taking it?" I asked quietly and Edward shrugged.

"She's not livid like I supposed she would be. She's quite fond of you. Whenever Emmett drives her crazy she sends him to you and you usually punish him in some way... For example, the toilet thing was quite good."

I grinned.

"Earlier today Emmett was annoying her so she said 'Go up and annoy Lizzie and when you come back whining I'm going to laugh my head off.' So, knowing Emmett he said you wouldn't do anything bad." Edward snorted as we heard Emmett curse and it sounded like water was spraying everywhere.

"Did the toilet explode?" I asked Edward and his smile fell a little.

"No, but the look on Emmett's face is pretty amusing."

I had been living in the Cullen's house not worrying about the time, day or even what month it was. That all changed when Carlisle found Emmett and I in the living room, deep in conversation.

"I finally found you!" He exclaimed but I didn't hear him.

"Emmett," I sighed, exasperated. "I told you I CAN make my nose disappear. I can do it with my eyebrows!"

"It's totally different!" Emmett argued. "Noses should be a lot harder to make disappear."

"Fine." I huffed and rolled my eyes. When I was staring at Emmett again, my nose was gone.

"Told you!" I taunted.

He just growled.

"As if that scares me anymore!" I scoffed, flipping my hand at him. I turned around as I placed my nose back on my face. Carlisle was staring over my shoulder in horror. I snorted and disappeared. A few seconds later, Emmett was struggling around the drywall that now encased his head.

Carlisle and I stared at him for awhile, then turned back to each other. I heard Esme scolding Emmett from the other room. Ever since I had arrived, I had given her a lot of projects to work on, and I wasn't even a vampire yet.

"Well, it's quite set in stone that you are going to be living with us, that is unless you want to..." He raised an eyebrow.

"No, no! I'm never going to be normal again, so what's the point?" I laughed.

Carlisle chuckled, and then his face turned thoughtful. "You know, I have a theory on that,"

"You always do." I muttered.

"In theory, I was thinking that after all of the stress of the car crash, and Edward's reaction," I smiled at that. Even though Edward and the rest of the family wasn't here, I'm sure Edward would've appreciated that. "You were so stressed out, and being around all these vampires, much like a werewolf, your powers burst forth."

I felt that Carlisle's theorizing was over.

"What I came here to tell you, is to fit in, you must attend school, because we try to remain inconspicuous." He said sternly.

I nodded sadly.

"Good. You are already registered, I bought you all the supplies you'll need, and school starts in two days. Our cover story, is we adopted you after your parents died in a car crash,"

"How ironic." I cut in, smiling wryly.

He smiled. "Congratulations, your name is now, Elizabeth Cullen."

My hair had eventually lightened back to the champagne blond of perfect serenity, except for Emmett's occasional intrusions, where it only turned the exact shade of bronze Edward, which I dare to say, pleased Edward immensely. Now it remained that bronze because of school. Carlisle had been worried that if I flamed bright red, it wouldn't be too helpful with lying low. I wasn't worried. Vampires had a much bigger effect than humans did. Like I said, the bronze hair pleased Edward and he seemed to love having something to relate to, but his act towards me didn't change much, except when he would tell me how his life had been.

He had had green eyes, like me, but mine were slightly special. Before I had ever met the Cullens, my green eyes had gold specks, that glittered in the light. It was like my fate had been set in stone. I had never exactly found out how Alice had found out about me being related to Edward, and sometimes I felt she had made the whole thing up. Except for the necklace, there wasn't really any fact to if Edward was related to me or not, but it didn't matter to me so I didn't press further.

"Wake up!" Bella pranced into the room and threw the curtains open. I groaned as the sun hit me, and threw the covers over my head.

"I thought you of all people would understand!" I felt betrayed.

"Come on! You're acting like a Hollywood vampire!" Bella sang.

I flipped my covers off my head, and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

"You're dramatic and you're burned by the sun." Bella replied matter-of-factly. I heard everyone in the house laugh, and I muttered "Ha ha." As I trudged off to the bathroom, Alice appeared beside me, hefting a huge bag, and I knew what it's contents, probably were no friends of mine.

"Wha's that?" I immediately regretted my question after the words slipped out, because Alice began listing in high detail, the color, shape, and purpose of every item in that horrible, weapon-stash-of-a-bag. I felt my horror growing. This was going to be a long day.


	12. Chapter 12

Edward into the parking space at Forks Middle School. Wow. What an original name. Edward chuckled in front of me and I frowned.

"WHY do you guys have to come?" I groaned.

"Well," Bella began breathlessly. "WE're here to make sure you, one, control your powers, two, make sure nobody else is suspicious, and three, have A GREAT first-day at school!" She seemed ecstatic.

I stared at her dully. "Why the HECK, do you want to spend a boring day at a middle school with a population of like, 50 kids per grade?" I wondered.

Bella was bouncing up and down in her seat and I was staring at her from the back seat, where I was crammed in between Jasper and Alice. Whoopee, a whole cheering squad.

My hair was turning a dull red and Edward glared at me.

"I told you, humans don't bother me, however, a vampire pep rally MIGHT." I muttered.

Jasper put his hand on me and unleashed a devastating amount of happiness.

"Whoa." I said dizzily as my hair flared a platinum blonde.

"I'm SO excited, ever since I've been dead, I haven't been able to go out in public!" Bella squealed.

Bella was going to borrow my power, make a vampire chain so they would all be hidden, Edward would make sure nobody was suspicious, Alice would see if my hair was going to flair up red, and Jasper would immediately calm me down. This was going to be an embarrassing day.

I hid my mind. At least Edward wouldn't be able to intrude that part of my privacy. Thank goodness. I stepped out of the car followed by the four, invisible vampires. I closed the door and walked through the misty parking lot into the office.

I walked up to the secretary. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth--" I checked myself before I uttered my old last name. "Cullen." A thrill went through me as I said my new last name until I realized Jasper was probably laughing his head off, but I managed to keep my hair the same color.

"Ah yes!" The secretary exclaimed. "Another Cullen. Indeed." She pawed through some files until she found one with my name. "Here's your schedule, a map of the school, and a slip you need to get all your teachers to sign."

"Thanks." I murmured as I took all the stuff, and turned to leave.

"Have a great day, dear." The secretary said cheerily. I smiled at her, then made my way out the door.

I stopped a ways outside the door and examined the map. This was going to be simple. I wouldn't need it, but I stored the map in my backpack anyways. Alice appeared beside me as I looked over my schedule in the same manner.

"English block, Art, Algebra, Lunch. Then, Social Studies, P.E., and Science." I shrugged.

"At least P.E.'s late in the day." Alice offered.

"I guess."

Edward appeared besides me also. "You should probably get to English, the bell rings in five minutes."

I sighed. "This is gonna be so embarrassing."

Edward laughed. "Bella understands your pain, but since she's dead, it would be better if you were sighted with us, just in case."

I smiled wryly. "Off to school!" I exclaimed in mock happiness and they chuckled before disappearing.

I made my way quickly to English hoping nobody would be in class to witness my embarrassing slip-signing request.

I stood in front of building A. I found the door marked 106. I hesitantly peeked in the door that was propped open by a brick painted with books and pencils. As I took in the nearly empty class room I mentally cheered. There was only two students at their desks and the teacher was reading a book with the cover propped up in obvious view. Black Beauty. I had to admit I had loved that book when I was in fourth grade. I had even done a book report on it, but an Eighth Grade Honors teacher reading it? Jeez.

I made my way into the classroom and quietly described my situation to her.

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Cullen and the secretary asked me to get this signed by all of my teachers." I explained quietly, hoping not to disturb the other students in the classroom.

She blinked at me behind her colorful reading glasses then burst out, "Why, welcome Elizabeth!" I winced but she continued in her loud voice, despite me leaning in towards her. "I'm Mrs. Blerny! So nice to meet you!"

The two students heads jerked up, they were both girls, and immediately started whispering in hushed tones with bright expressions on their faces. Crud, crud, crud, CRUD!

I desperately tried to calm my self down. Thanks to Jasper, now my reputation at school was a platinum blonde, which meant I would have to stay freakishly happy every day while at school. Odds of that? Zero to zero.

I suddenly felt joy flood through me and I grinned at the teacher like an idiot. "Nice to meet you too!" I exclaimed joyously and the two girls raised their eyebrows at each other. The teacher didn't seem to notice.

Jasper, I hate you with such a passion, a passion so strong that I think I'm gonna dig a hole in Peru and bury your head in it. I'm gonna...

I saw the very tips of my hair turning blood red and asked the teacher quickly, if I could go to the restroom. She nodded dreamily and picked her book up again. The girls were working on their papers again when I flew past.

I found the girls bathroom and when I saw it was empty, I whirled and let my hair flash bright red. They were all standing there cautiously.

"Will you come off it?" I whispered furiously.

"I was just helping..." Jasper said but it sounded more like a question.

"No you weren't!" I retorted angrily. "How would jumping up on a desk and start singing help ANYTHING? I was resisting the very strong urge to do just that!"

"Told you." Alice said smugly to Jasper.

"Fine, we'll try to restrain ourselves if you do." Edward stated, rolling his eyes.

I scoffed at him then shrugged past them and stalked back to class. I stood a few feet from the doorway, thinking some of the happiest moments I had in my life. Most of them were at the horse shows, or around my horses. I grinned as my hair turned the platinum blonde I had been marked as, and then stepped into the classroom.

There were eight kids in the class this time, but the bell still hadn't rung.

"Err, where would you like me to sit?" I asked the teacher.

"Anywhere's fine!" She said carelessly.

Great. Now I have to find a spot that somebody else doesn't have a claim on a seat but I desperately didn't want to sit in the front.

"You can sit by me." Offered a small girl with light brown hair and pale skin.

"Thanks." I smiled. She smiled back.

As long as I knew one person, I'd be okay.

As I made my way across the room, the bell rang and students poured in the room and they all stared.

"I'm Katie Weber." She informed me.

"Elizabeth Cullen." I offered.

I saw several kids exchange loaded glances.

I also, unfortunately, heard a guy whisper, "No wonder she looks like that."

Wow. That was awkward.

I almost groaned when I thought of Edward. Stupid, mind-reading vampire.

Katie must have seen the look on my face because she smiled apologetically.

"My sister knew the Cullens. She told me they were super nice." Another girl walked up behind me and I turned to give her a thankful smile. I had to do a double take. I looked from Katie to this new girl who was obviously her identical twin.

"Your sister?" I asked Katie who nodded.

"This is Michelle." She nodded to her sister.

"And your guys' sister knows the Cullens?" They both nodded.

"So, you're identical right?" They both nodded again, but they seemed to be waiting for something.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Well, people like, ALWAYS ask if we can read each other's minds."

I snorted, but tried to contain my laughter. "Who believes in mind readers?" I asked smiling widely.

They grinned to but as I turned around in my seat, I covered up another laugh with a cough. I few people glanced at me, especially the boys, but I ignored them.

Who on Earth believes in mind readers? Or vampires? Or psychics? Or werewolves? Sometimes people are so gullible.


	13. Chapter 13

"Stop acting so cryptic, you're bound to make people suspicious." Edward scolded me lightly as he started the Volvo's engine.

"Oh yeah, like I can NOT be cryptic. I live in a house full of vampires!"

"The mind-reading thing was a little much." He replied raising his eyebrow at me. I flashed a smile at him.

"I thought your thoughts were quite funny though, and so did Edward, he was roaring with laughter." Alice interrupted, quoting me.

" 'Who on Earth believes in mind readers? Or vampires? Or psychics? Or werewolves? Sometimes people are so gullible.' "

I laughed along with her.

"Alice you reminded me," Edward suddenly sounded angry. "Can you not dress her up like that?"

"THANK YOU!" I exclaimed, leaning me head back against the seat, but Alice frowned beside me.

"Why?" She asked.

"It's my right! Don't you have enough money to invest in a life size Barbie doll or something?"

Edward ignored me. "The thoughts of some of those boys were frankly quite disturbing."

I grimaced. Boys could be pervs.

"You're telling me." Edward grumbled.

Alice looked shocked. "You can't be serious Edward! What were they thinking?"

"NO WAY! THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION!" I said loudly.

"I know you married a Southern gentleman," I said slowly, -- Jasper chuckled -- "But there is no way you can't know how perverted teenage boys' minds are!"

Alice shrugged. "They would probably be like that without the makeup," She said as she cast an appraising glance at me."But it's so your color! It's your own fault they're attracted to you."

"Obviously, you don't understand boys." I accused her wryly. "They're not 'attracted' to me. They're like that with every girl, and the clothes just encourage it! Please invest in some life-sized doll!" I pleaded her.

Alice shook her head stubbornly.

I crossed my arms and glared out the window, then disappeared.

"Very mature." Edward muttered.

I saw our driveway and figured I could walk from here. Without opening it, I dove through the door. As I waited for the of the hard road, I realized there wouldn't be one. If I did hit it too hard, I would just go through it. I stood up, and looked down the long driveway. I wonder...

I remembered when I had made Emmett and his various body parts appear in different places around the house. I wondered if I could do it to myself. I remembered in Harry Potter, Apparating was sort of the same concept so, I took advice from the fiction book. Pretty stupid, but what did I have to lose?

I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on the Cullens' front porch. I turned.

In Harry Potter it supposedly felt like you were being squeezed through a pipe. They got it all wrong. Instead I felt a gust of wind and I was standing on the porch.

I grinned at the car that wasn't even half-way down the driveway, even with Edward's insane driving. I showed myself and saw the car jerk. I grinned again widely before skipping down the steps. I waited as the car came even faster than before.

In no time, Edward was pulling up in front of the house.

"How'd you do that?" Bella asked curiously as she and the rest of the Cullens got out of the car.

"This?" I focused on a spot five hundred feet across the enormous lawn. I closed my eyes. I felt the wind, and then I opened them. I was standing a few feet away from the exact spot, but I was close enough. I couldn't believe I had found ANOTHER way to manipulate my powers to my advantage. I was beginning to think I would never stop discovering new things about my powers.

I strained my eyes and saw not four, but all eight vampires watching me from the end of the driveway.

Emmett was yelling things that I couldn't hear, but I smiled.

I focused hard on my bed in my room, and I was there.

"AWESOME!" I yelled from upstairs.

I materialized on the porch again, right next to Carlisle. I looked at him with my eyes wide and he was shaking his head. He looked scared.

"What?"

"The Volturi. They won't rest until they have you. Your powers can branch out in so many ways, you could destroy their entire guard, single handed, still as a human."

He looked down at my terrified face. They won't rest until they have me... My happiness disappeared.

"Trust me, you have NO reason to be frightened. Your powers make you unstoppable."

It was true. But it made the Cullens more likely targets for Jane's visits...

"Maybe I should leave..."

"That would be worse." Carlisle said."We will keep you safe, until you are old enough, and then, you will be one of us."

I looked around at the eight grim faces. The faces of my family.


	14. Chapter 14

Eventually, we all moved inside the house and tried to forget about the Volturi.

Yeah right.

I worked on my homework; in Edward's room, because I loved to listen to music while working. I had got pretty deep into my sketch of a flower that had been cut out of a magazine. I was following the exact directions of the teacher, but it wasn't working. My rosebud looked like an amputated, shrunken head.

I scowled at the paper, and figuring that was the best I could do with it, I laid it to the side, face-down. It would be sort of creepy working on my homework while a shrunken head was staring up at me.

But then again, that was the least of my worries.

I sighed, then delved into my Algebra next. It was relatively easy, a mix of materials I had learned last year. The only thing I had never completely gotten was Euler circuits, so I guessed on that question.

I made my way slowly but surely through my homework, despite when Emmett came around the corner with a smug smile on his face.

Immediately, his mouth disappeared.

"I'll give it back when I'm done." I said calmly, ignoring his furious, and rude, hand gestures.

He finally gave up and stomped out of the room and downstairs. I heard Rosalie's laughter echoing through the house, and remembering what Edward had said about Rosalie sending him up to me, I yelled, "Your welcome!" out the door.

I ran my hands through my slightly bronze hair, and went back to my homework.

Twenty minutes later, I was free of schoolwork, but now I didn't know what to do with myself. I counted to one hundred in my head, and when I got bored of that, I recited latin stems. I tried as hard as possible to concentrate only on the latin stems, to keep my thoughts from straying to the Volturi.

_com; together._

_equi; equal._

_ante; before._

_extra; beyond._

_bi; two._

_anti; against._

_con; together (again)._

_de--_

I opened my eyes suddenly, and Edward's face was inches from mine. He was livid.

Oops.

My concentration broke and the thoughts of Volturi came flooding in.

Edward winced just as I did.

"Sorry," He murmured. "I thought you were trying to annoy me. You're as bad as Alice." He smiled a crooked smile, and I tried to return it, but it felt more like a grimace.

"There's nothing to worry about. You'll be fine."

"It's not me I'm worrying about--"

"You're as bad as Bella." He interrupted.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Are you done?"

"Yes ma'am."

I grinned and continued, "It's not me I'm worrying about, I'm worried about Jane hurting you guys. You're my family. . . and I don't want you hurt." Grief leaked into my voice at the end, and I felt my face fall.

Edward was watching my expression carefully, and then he looked thoughtful. "I just remembered, when you were thinking of making your hair lighter, you thought of horses . . . did you have any?"

I nodded sadly, remembering the way it felt to jump, or to canter bareback across grassy pastures, with the wind in my hair. "Seven," I murmured softly.

"And you loved it." Edward stated.

"Yeah," I sighed and looked out the window, trying to forget.

"Why do you want to forget?" He asked softly.

"Because when I remember, at first I'm happy, until I remember I'll ... That I'll never see them again. Or ride. I loved it, and I always felt at home on a horse." I looked more intently at the window, trying not to let the burning tears brim over.

"Your hair," Edward whispered, and I looked down, a tear falling from my eye.

My hair had turned a soft blue, with a grayish tint, like the color of rain falling on an overcast day.

"Yeah, I guess I haven't been sad here at all." I laughed hoarsely, tucking a strand behind my ear. "I didn't know it would do that."

Edward smiled, springing up.

I heard Alice exclaim from her room, and I looked questioningly at him. He just smiled and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "You can make it through the week!"

I didn't know what he meant but Alice appeared at my doorway briefly, before flashing me a smile and darting away.

Vampires.

I rolled my eyes, wondering if I really could make it through the week.


	15. Chapter 15

I did manage to make it through the week, surprising even myself. Not once did I need Jasper's assistance about controlling my hair.

My family went hunting more than usual, which was odd, but still, I assured them I could take care of myself fine, (which was obvious) and that I didn't want one person to stay back just for me.

To my surprise, they obliged.

Their hunting trips were very short, and they usually left in the evenings and would arrive early the next morning, their hair filled with wood shavings and with a strong piney smell that made me curious. They had never been coming back from hunts like that before, until earlier this week.

It was a Friday, and they were getting back from a hunt, their hair filled with more wood than ever before. Rosalie had a look of disgust on her face.

"What, are you hunting squirrels now?" I teased Emmett. "They must be better than grizzlies. Now, an irritated _squirrel_. _That's_ what I call dangerous."

To my surprise, instead of becoming irritated by my taunting, Emmett just smirked at me, leaning in, he whispered, "I know something you don't know."

"I'm sure." I said sarcastically, but my hand curled up at my side.

His sharp eyes didn't miss it and he grinned widely at me.

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

I chanted over and over in my mind, knowing he wanted me to be annoyed.

Don't give in. That's what he wants. Don't.

I breathed out slowly, and my hair, which had been becoming alarmingly copper, faded back to blonde.

Emmett's face, which had been becoming more and more eager, fell suddenly as I regained my mood, and I laughed.

"I'm getting better because of you...Thanks." I flashed a wide smile at his as he glowered at me.

"Have fun getting all that wood out . . . Squirrel whisperer!" I laughed jollily as I skipped to my room, leaving Emmet fuming behind me.

As long as I carefully hid from Alice in the morning, I could dress myself, and make it to the car RIGHT when it was time to leave so there was no way of her dressing up her walking Barbie Doll.

This morning, I selected a light green shirt with a design on the front emblazoned in curly gold strokes. It complimented my eyes nicely and I threw on a pair of jean capris with All Stars that matched the light green on my shirt. The pluses of living with a vampire family with loads of money because of Alice's uncanny ability to predict rises and falls in the stock market was that you could have practically anything you wanted. That didn't mean I took advantage. Alice would literally beg me to come shopping with her, and most of the time I would oblige.

There was ONE thing I wanted badly but I knew I couldn't ask. I stared at myself in the mirror as I ran a brush through my slightly blue-gray hair. Sighing, I set the brush down and focused hard. I watched in the glass as my hair brightened to the platinum blonde that was my school identity.

I switched of the light and closed the door quietly, turning invisible as I made my way down the stairs and to the kitchen. I pulled a box of cereal out of the cabinet and fixed myself a bowl, sitting down to eat. I scooped the cereal into my mouth and Alice walked glumly into the kitchen, watching the cereal fly through the air and disappear as I swallowed it.

"That looks pretty weird, you know," She said with a sad voice.

I made my head appear, giving the impression I was floating in midair.

"You're not dressing me up," I warned her menacingly and she continued sulking.

"I know," She moaned but she tried anyways, "But can't you let me this one time? Pleasssssse? Pretty, pretty--"

"That's what she did for my wedding!" Bella called from upstairs. "And don't even try the, 'You're my sister don't you love me?' deal!"

Alice scowled at the ceiling and then at me. I shrugged, but then realized she couldn't see my shoulders, so I just scooped more cereal into my mouth.

"Dunaskme. IcansaynounlikeBella." I mumbled through my cereal.

She frowned deeper and stalked out of the kitchen, clearly seeing I wasn't going to change my mind. In more than one sense of the word.

At school, Katie and Michelle has become my best friends. They were the only things that helped me cling to my 'human life'. Without them, I don't know what I would do. Michelle seemed really interested when I told her about my horses I had back home, and I recommended she take lessons. I felt a stab of pain as she said she's ask her parents, but I had to be happy for her. That part of my life was over.

I caught myself, thankful no one had noticed the slight blueing of my hair. I thought of what it felt like to jump, and immediately my hair glowed platinum.

After school had ended, the Cullens still followed me around occasionally, and today was one of those days. As Edward opened the door for me, his eyes narrowed over my shoulder. "What?" I asked, turning partially. A blonde haired boy in my English class was pointing at me, talking to a similarly blonde haired young man that looked like he was in college.

"Like cousin, like cousin I suppose." Edward sighed, motioning for me to get in the car. I waved to Michelle and Katie, who were walking along with their older sister, Angela. "Edward! That's Angela!" I motioned to the group and Edward turned.

"Can we go talk, please?" I asked and Alice hopped out of the car.

"Let's go!" She cried, dragging me by the wrist to where they stood, looking at us.

"Hey!" I greeted the twins.

They smiled in return.

Michelle turned to Angela. "This is Lizzie, she went to the Cullens after her parents passed away," She informed her, her voice getting soft as she talked about my parents' 'death'. Angela smiled at me.

"Angela," Alice said warmly, hugging her gently. "So nice to see you. How's Ben?"

Angela smiled timidly and held up her left hand, where a small silver band was settled on her ring finger. "We're engaged," She announced, her seemingly shy voice strong with happiness.

"Congratulations!" Alice and I exclaimed.

"Thank you, and the girls have told me tons about you, Lizzie. I'm glad the Cullens took you, they're such a nice family," She said, smiling at me, then Alice.

"They've been wonderful, I love them very much," I said, my voice unusually soft as I stared at my shoe.

"I'm sure," Angela told me, then looked down at the girls. "We should probably go, have a nice spring break!" The Webers waved and left.

"Err...Alice? It's spring break?" I asked, blinking.

"Yes, it is," Alice laughed dragging me back to the car, " No wonder you didn't ask where we would be going."

I opened the car door. "Where are we going? On vacation?"

"I don't think you're gonna go on a vacation after we get home, but we will be traveling." Edward said with a mysterious smile.

Alice exchanged a loaded glance with him and he and Bella smiled.

"Perfect."

"Excellent."

Jasper was the only one who looked as left out as I felt.

"So annoying," I grumbled to him and he nodded, rolling his eyes.

The car ride was silent the rest of the way home, Edward Bella and Alice having private thought conversations while Jasper and I sulked.

When we got home, the rest of the family was standing out front; waiting.

"You've never run before have you?" Edward asked.

"Huh?"

"That's a no, I'm guessing," Emmett boomed.

"I'm taking her! I call it!" He added energetically.

"Yeah, but I'm faster than you," Edward argued, then turned to me.

"Do you like roller coasters? Or do you get motion sickness?"

What the heck are you talking about? I though with a raised eyebrow.

"Just answer."

I love roller coasters.

"Okay," Edward said, nodding and turning to the others. "Emmett can take her the first time, since he's slow." Edward teased as Emmett scowled.

"Climb on my back," Emmet said, standing with his back turned to me.

"Uh, Emmett? Has anyone told you lately that you're gigantic?" I asked him. "You need to kneel down. Unless someone knows how to give a leg up?" I turned, eyeing everyone.

"I've got the concept from your thoughts," Edward approached us and cupped his hand under my knee.

"One, two," I counted, bouncing on one foot. "Three!" He vaulted me up, and I grabbed onto Emmett's shoulders, locking my arms around his neck.

"You're as big as a couch," I mumbled into his neck, and he laughed.

"You might want to close your eyes," Edward warned, and Bella looked down.

"Yeah, right."

I stared over Emmett's shoulder at the trees.

"Ready?"

"Go for it."

And he ran.

The trees I had been staring at a second before, were all ready behind me before I could blink.

The wind rushed past me so fast; I felt like I had taken up free falling out of helicopters, except I was vertical.

"Woo-hooooooo!' I yelled into Emmett's ear and through all the wind I heard him laugh.

I could see only the vague shapes of my family darting around trees beside me; my eyes were watering.

"Is this as fast as you can go?" I teased Emmett.

"Actually, no." The wind carried Emmett's yell past my ears.

"Well, faster then!" I yelled, clucking like I did to my horse.

We accelerated faster than I would have thought humanly possible. But then again, they were vampires, not humans.

The landmarks were starting to look familiar.

"Are you dizzy?"

"No!"

"You're going in circles!"

"You're enjoying it a lot more than we expected!"

I was smiling so big my entire mouth felt dry like it had been filled with sand.

I laughed and whooped some more, my emotion flooding Jasper so that he passed it on to everyone else.

After two more laps, everyone was laughing and yelling along with me.

Edward, who was ahead of us, slowed to a walk and everyone else followed.

I dismounted gracefully, landing softly on the turf, and I grinned at everyone.

"That was AWESOME!" I exclaimed happily, my hair glowing bright blonde.

Alice fidgeted and I frowned at her, my hair dimming.

Edward answered the questions in my head.

"She's upset because the wind messed up your hair."

Everyone laughed as I lifted my hands up and felt my bangs sticking straight up.

"Holy cow!"

Alice was in front of me, patting my hair down and combing it with her snowy fingers before I could protest.

I rolled my eyes and followed Edward as he began to walk, Alice shadowing me and patting down my hair.

"What's the use? I'm gonna mess it up on the way home."

Alice glared at me and muttered, "I'm gonna take you home nice and slow."

"Alice, I'm taller than you."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure she can handle going faster," Edward added, winking at me.

I grinned back.

Alice growled softly and I smacked her hand away.

"Ow."

Everyone laughed again, but Alice continued trying to tame my wild, wind-swept locks.

"We're here," Edward announced as he stepped out of a shroud of trees, me following close behind.

"Oh my god!" I gasped as I took in what was before me.

A beautiful wood, breezeway barn took up half of the arena, with paddocks on the other side. There was a wide dirt path that lead the way into the woods at the side opposite of me.

"The trail leads to the arena," Edward informed me, smiling crookedly.

My mouth was hanging open and I closed it, turning around to look at my family. "YOU BUILT THIS?" I asked. shocked.

They smiled at me and nodded, Emmett adding, "And you thought we were hunting squirrels," with a snort.

I hugged him first, failing to wrap my arms all the way around his massive torso, then hugging each of the other family members.

My eyes were stinging, and my hair was changing; not just in color, but in texture.

My hair was suddenly incredibly light, floating around my face like I was immersed in water. It emitted a cool glow, of bright white. Like the color of white-hot metal, glowing in the same way. It wasn't an aged color, it was the purest, prettiest color I'd ever seen, and the way it floated around my face tickled my cheeks.

Everyone turned with shocked faces to Jasper, who was also looking surprised.

"Love," he uttered softly.

Love. The love I felt for horses, which they were giving me to make me happy, but more than anything, the love I felt for my new family.

I let go of my old life, never looking back, never dwelling on the memories that would be impossible to experience ever again.

I stepped back from Edward, the last one I had hugged, and looked over my shoulder to hide the tears that were filling my eyes, causing the gold to glimmer. As the gold glittered in my eyes, and as my hair swirled white around my face, I embraced my fate, and the family that I was now wholly a part of.


End file.
